Here's to Ten Years Together

On August 22, we celebrated 10 years of marriage together.
On our actual anniversary, we ate at Outback and then drove around in my mom's fancy BMW convertible.
A few weeks later, for the real celebration, we went up to Park City. We had high hopes of riding Tour de Suds in Deer Valley all day and got hailed on instead. I mean, we really have bad luck. Every time we try to plan something extra special, there is a kink. I have to learn to roll with the punches...stupid punches.

Here we are, all happy before the rain and hail...Park City, here we come...
More bad luck...Is this the smallest couch you have ever seen? Is there any way we could have both fit on that couch comfortably? Maybe I could have perched myself on the back of the couch.
And look at this tiny tub! However, I did enjoy a nice bubble bath while Eric watched some football.
Oh and did I mention that we couldn't see the TV from the bed. The couch obviously wasn't going to work so we had to figure out another option. Luckily Eric thought to bring the laptop for movie watching. And guess what we watched? Pride and Prejudice! It was such a sweet gesture since I know he's not a big fan or really a fan at all of wordy, accent-y, slow chick flicks. Bonus: he even stayed awake.

So, a few more things on the upside...

We shopped all day at the outlets and Eric was a good sport. Towards the end, he decided to wait outside...
We saw a double rainbow (although you can only see one in the picture) and we could actually see the beginning/end of it! I have never seen the origination point of a rainbow.This was too funny...we were in a soap/lotion shop and we washed our hands using the whole 4 step process. Eric could not get over how soft his hands felt. "Wow...I mean, feel my hands, they are so soft!"
We had a delicious dinner at Prime Steakhouse on Main Street. I think it was the best steak I have ever had...perfectly flavored and cooked. And if you like red onion, I had a salad with red onion and juicy tomato slices with blue cheese smothered on top. Oh, it was delish. To top it off the grilled vegetables were succulent and melted in my mouth.

To finish off the weekend we ate lunch at a French Bistro and walked down Main Street.

What can I say about the one I love the most? I still get butterflies when I see him. I can't go a day without talking to him every few hours. His laugh is contagious. His smile, heartwarming. When it comes down to it, he is a softy.
He is the perfect dad for our boys. He loves to play with them and gives them the love they need.
I love riding with him. He pulls me to the top and scares me to death going down.

The bummer about getting photos of riding is that you don't usually get photos of actual riding. This is a technical stair climb that he missed this time, but its such a cute pic.
Eric has seen me in many circumstances...from my most vulnerable and terrifying moments to my most happy and delighted ones. The best part is that he is still by my side loving me through it all. And for that I am grateful. Here's to forever together. Love you babe.

I'm Alive (don't worry...NO SPOILERS)

Back from the dead...I finally finished all the books from the Twilight Series. Eric was seriously getting worried that our house might never get clean again and that we would go hungry. Yesterday he specifically asked me if I could get to the grocery store.

So, what did I think?...don't worry, NO SPOILERS HERE. I would never do that...(I'm saving it for the "comments" section.)

Apparently, some people don't mind spoiling it for me...usually people I hardly know. The book is just barely peeking out of my purse and someone asks me, "which one are you on?" Now, I do want to talk about it, but not the parts I haven't read yet! Seriously? Complete strangers decide they can spoil it for me. The cashier at Walmart starts telling me stuff even after I say, "please...don't tell me anything...no, I don't want to know anything...La la la la...I can't hear you." I could barely hold back my karate chop action. BTW-I am never going back to Walmart. Let's just say 35 minutes in line and a cashier who was not "all there" spoiling part of the book for me.

So...am I done with my obsession? Yes, of course. There is no way that I will go to the website to search out more information on my precious characters or to the "Twilight" movie website or to other people's blogs about it...no that is for crazy obsessed fans. In fact, I am headed to the store...right now...for real...I promise, just not Walmart.

NOTE: I am very interested to see what you think about the book(s), so be prepared that in the COMMENTS, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

Flaming Gorge

So we went to Flaming Gorge a few weeks ago... OK maybe a month ago. We had a great time with my family. It was beautiful, not crowded and clean. We had so much fun on the boat and cliff jumping. We also floated down the Green River and it was so pretty.
The cousins had a blast. My nephew, Brendan told his mom that it was more fun that Disneyland! You never say anything like that to Kristy. She loves Disneyland more than anyone I know! The cousins ran around together all day everyday from condo to condo. They loved being on the boat together too.
Talon got up on waterskiis!! He was so excited. His cousin Brendan did it first and set the bar. I couldn't believe he wanted to do it. My sister-in-law Kristy was so awesome. She got in the water with each kid and got them set up and held them upright. She did this for all the kids. I think I would have been terrified waiting in the water....remember my fear of water? She was so great! She waited in the water while they skied.
Talon was so funny. Once he got up on the water skis, we all started to cheer for him. So he started waving and giving thumbs up letting us know that he was "good". He had this self-confident grin on his face that still cracks me up.
This was fun, oh except for the pounding in my head from jumping. It still makes my head hurt. Of course Eric loved it...no fear. In fact everybody loved it...

Kristy always makes it a party by bringing fun things for the kids. Um, Kristy...need some help?
The boys made it out on a ride...or two. Don't they look cute?
Thanks mom for a great trip!! We loved it!

GIRLS CAMP 2008

What can I say. Girl's camp is always fun. I think it's even more fun for me because I only attended one year when I was a girl. I still lament over it. I really missed out. I, of course, thought I was too cool for such things. Now I wish I could have a do-over. Lucky for me, I got to have some of the fun experiences I missed out on. We went up to Heber Valley Girls Camp and it was beautiful. The cabins are so nice and we even got to take showers! We were lucky that the weather was a little cooler than usual so that the cabins didn't get too hot.


I LOVE these girls! They are such an inspiration to me. They have simple faith and they are so intelligent. They are always asking great questions about the gospel. They have courage to ask questions about things that they don't understand. I remember feeling confused as a young girl, but too afraid/embarrassed to ask. I love that they have confidence to ask those questions. Most of us leaders have similar questions. Enlightening discussions always follow those questions.


Being with the girls makes me feel like I am 12 all over again. Everything is very well planned and scheduled at Heber Valley. That meant that we had very little responsibility which was great because we were able to hang out with the girls. I found myself acting more goofy than usual. Man, I used to be so goofy and fun. It's a bummer when life gets so serious. The girls brought out the fun and crazy side to me.
The girls had challenges on the 3rd day and we went to watch. We thought we were going to be involved, but we weren't allowed to help them. It was so frustrating. All the girls were trying to figure out how to accomplish challenges like how to get across wires without touching the ground and having everyone get across together. Teamwork, right? It's amazing to see what happens when people don't listen to each other. A few of the girls had great ideas, but no one would listen. They kept trying the same thing over and over. At the last challenge they figured it out. They asked each other for ideas instead of shouting over each other and tried each idea one at a time. Interesting how that still happens in teams/families/groups everywhere.

Climbing, Climb on...The leaders were able to do one of the challenges. We had to climb up a tree and cross a wire to another tree and then repel down. I found out it was more unstable than it looked...and I usually love these things. I was a little uneasy but I had no time to think about it because they said we had to hurry so that all the leaders could get a chance. So, that made me do it without having time to get scared.
Here I am getting suited up for the task in a very flattering harness and helmet that really accentuated all my best areas.

I stayed for 3 days and it was great. It's always hard to work out babysitting for my kids while I'm at camp, but it's worth the effort. Next year I would love to be there for the whole thing. As a bonus, I come home with immediate blessings. Case in point...I usually get really stressed before and during vacations, but as soon as I got home from girls camp at 6 PM, we started packing up for Flaming Gorge. We got everything ready and left the next morning at 9:30. I wasn't stressed and I felt pretty relaxed the whole trip. Blessing.

MS Ride

Zazoosh failed to snap a fabulous shot of me from this ride...c'mon, there were only thousands of riders...so if you look behind this guy, you can see me in my pink jersey.
This is my brother-in-law Rick (Rachelle's husband). He was nice enough to invite me to ride with his company Omniture.

Drafting rocks.
It's so cool to ride in a group. I ride alone a lot and I couldn't get over how much easier it was to draft off people in front of me. I can see why century rides are so fun.

Chivalry is NOT dead...at least on the bike.
I was the only lady in the group and the guys took care of me, especially Rick. He kept making sure I was OK. At one point I had fallen off the back of the group and he came back and said, "Hey, I'll pull you up there." I didn't expect him to stay with me because he is much speedier than me, and I mean much speedier. But he was taking care of the group and in no hurry. Thanks again Rick for making the ride enjoyable.

Eric rocks
Eric never even hesitates when I ask to do a ride like this. He takes the kids and is excited for me to have a great time. He knows how happy I am when I get home and I am so grateful that he supports and cares about my interests.

Tremonton rocks too, wait, no it doesn't.
Tremonton is not 20 minutes from Logan. It's about 45, going 80 miles an hour. It's a funny little town. We went to the grocery store and I asked the cashier where the protein bars were and she said, "Oh, ummm, I think we are out of those." Really? You only carry one brand of protein bars and you are completely out of them? Wait, where am I?

Is shooting knee pain normal?
The last 20 miles of the ride were pretty bad. I had shooting pain in my knees and toes and my right forefinger was numb. So, I dropped off the back of the group and tried to suffer alone. The pain was unforgiving, it wouldn't quit. And how could I quit? I only had 20 miles left and the rest of me was doing fine. At this point the group had moved on and I rode alone for a while. Then I saw a guy from our group and we rode the last 15 miles together. I just wanted to be out of my misery. At the very end, and I mean the very end, we raced to the finish.

It turns out that the pain was coming from my IT band. Pushing heavy gears and coming back from being sick for 2 weeks were the most likely culprits. It was great to finish another century.

Raising money for Multiple Sclerosis
Of course the most important part of the ride was raising money for MS. Our team alone raised $15,000 for the cause. It was special to me because I was riding in honor of my Aunt Becci who lost her life to this disease. I don't remember her much, but I recently read my grandfathers life history and he wrote of her compassionate, fun personality. I love what she often said to my Aunt Karen, “Just do whatever you think is right, do what feels good to you and do what is in your heart and what comes from your heart.” She was only 32 when she died.

A family friend, Verlan J. Terry, wrote this poem for Becci.

A Morning Leaf
By Verlan J. Terry

Confused. I left my sister's step and started down the walk.
I read again the note she left where I was due to knock.
"Dear brother, Dad called, sorry I couldn't stay.
He said he wants you home too--a little later in the day."

So passing beneath her sycamore tree, I paused in its cool shade.
I found myself bewildered, perplexed, not angered or afraid.
Strange, it was so urgent-- so brief a warning.
Why had he called her so early in the morning?

And there at the foot of the tree where I had stopped to lean,
My down-cast eyes beheld a leaf--a leaf of brilliant green.
How cruel! How sad for a leaf to fall on a warm midsummer day.
Probably caused by a stormy wind, or a child's rough hand at play.

But no-- there's another drifting down--down softly t'wards earth's breast.
Why now? So green-- so long before the rest?

For most leaves wait for frost, then fall with a warm golden hue,
Leaving behind on a barren branch a lonesome, withered few,
Silhouetted against a cold grey sky, bearing deep winter's chill,
Clutching life's limb with miraculous power, abiding the Master's will

Were I the master, I mused, all leaves would together fall,
Or more likely yet, I couldn't bear them leave the tree at all.
And thus the plan would be thwarted, its whole purpose denied.
No, it's best He be the Master, its best that He decide.

And so with mind enlightened, heart content and serene,
I left the home of my sweet sister, Becci Jean.
And stepped into the noonday sun, happy for what I'd seen,
Holding close my note and leaf--my leaf of perfect green.

Mindful now of undone tasks, I hurried along my way,
For she said He wanted me home too, --later in the day.

This poem reminds me to make the best of each day and that my time here is unknown. Recently I’ve read of tragic circumstances in others' lives--mostly of families losing children. It crushes my heart. It makes everything else in life seem so trivial. Each story I have cried over has given me another ounce of perspective and added compassion for those suffering.